Pages

Tuesday, 22 May 2012

Creative Development: Studio Tour

Quite a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get a tour around a local video game studio for the sake of learning what the working environment looked like. This video game studio was none other than Rockstar Leeds, head studio behind the game Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars.

When I arrived at the studio before I could look around I had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement so that I wouldn't divulge any information about any products I may see employees working on, unfortunately my tour was early in the morning so I didn't see anyone working on anything.

After signing the NDA I was shown around the studio and it was very much like a typical large but separated into two key areas, the art department and coding department. Desks are separated by small walls so that there is a divide so that each employee has their own space but they're not segregated from each other to allow them to share ideas. In the coding department each desk has a playstation and an xbox development kits so that they can test how games run on the machines and debug them. Between the two departments Rockstar Leeds will work on projects by themselves but they'll also debug them or work on smaller parts to an overall larger one. Around the main office floor are rooms, in these are the offices of the head of the studio and on the opposite wing the test room.

Overall the feel of the studio is that everyone seems to be quite happy and diligent, there's a really nice vibe to the studio that gives it the sense of community. It was really interesting to see how a studio looks and acts, the experience is priceless and it's definitely made me want to aim to apply for a job at Rockstar Leeds both because of the work they've put out but also the working environment I got to experience.